Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) for Employees

More of us need to be aware of what to expect if we are to be layed off. Or our plant is going to be closed. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) applies to employers with 100 or more employees. The purpose of WARN is "to protects workers, their families, and communities by requiring employers to provide notification 60 calendar days in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs".

There is an employee guide here.

WARN applies when an employer:
• Closes a facility or discontinues an operating unit (see glossary) permanently
or temporarily, affecting at least 50 employees
• Lays off 500 or more workers (not counting part-time workers) at a single
site of employment during a 30-day period
• Announces a temporary layoff of less than 6 months that meets either
of the two criteria above and then decides to extend the layoff for
more than 6 months
• Reduces the hours of work for 50 or more workers by 50% or more for
each month in any 6-month period. Thus, a plant closing or mass layoff
need not be permanent to trigger WARN

The Department of Labor has a fact sheet for employers here.

What happens if an employer fails to give the proper notice?

An employer who violates WARN is liable to each affected employee for an amount
equal to back pay and benefits for the period of violation, up to 60 days. This
liability may be reduced by any wages the employer pays over the notice period.
WARN liability may also be reduced by any voluntary and unconditional payment
not required by a legal obligation.
An employer who fails to provide notice as required to a unit of local government is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each day of violation. The penalty may be avoided if the employer satisfies its liability to each affected employee within three weeks after the closing. In any suit, the court, in its discretion, may allow the
prevailing party a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs.

• WARN is enforced through the U.S. District Courts, as provided in section 5 of the Act.
• Workers, their representatives, and units of local government may bring individual or class action suits against employers believed to be in violation of the Act.
• The U.S. Department of Labor has no authority or legal standing in any enforcement action and cannot provide specific binding or authoritative advice or guidance about individual situations.
• The Department provides assistance in understanding the law and regulations to individuals, firms, and communities.

Plant Closings #3

I am by no means trying to list all plant closings. There are too many to capture anyway. I just try and pick out the ones that may have something of a lesson to learn. This article is posted in Triangle Business Journal:

Silver Line Building Products will shutter its plant in Durham before the Christmas holiday, laying off 428 people, according to the state Department of Commerce.

Silver Line, which makes vinyl windows and patio doors, told of its actions in a WARN Act notice with the Commerce Department. The company says it expects the closure to be effective as of Dec. 20.

Sometimes timing is everything. "The company came to the Triangle just four years ago, announcing in December 2004 that it would build a factory in Durham and employ 800 workers." Ouch, just before the housing boom ended.

The Worsening Economy

With the economy continuing to falter we hear about more factory closings. Ford and GM just announced early closings of plants scheduled for closure. There are federal guidelines governing companies in cases like this. From the US Dept of Labor:

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) protects workers, their families, and communities by requiring employers with 100 or more employees (generally not counting those who have worked less than six months in the last 12 months and those who work an average of less than 20 hours a week) to provide at least 60 calendar days advance written notice of a plant closing and mass layoff affecting 50 or more employees at a single site of employment. WARN makes certain exceptions to the requirements when layoffs occur due to unforeseeable business circumstances, faltering companies, and natural disasters. Advance notice gives workers and their families some transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, to seek and obtain other jobs, and if necessary, to enter skill training or retraining that will allow these workers to compete successfully in the job market.

But are we now in a period of "unforeseeable business circumstance"?